Proposition 23 Defeat is a Winner for U.S. Military

November 4th, 2010 by Tina Casey

The people have spoken: Proposition 23, the notorious California ballot initiative that would have rolled back the state’s landmark new air pollution control law, has been shot down in flames. Naturally, clean tech companies are rejoicing over the defeat of Proposition 23 along with others who supported the “No on 23″ campaign, but there is one key player in the sustainability field that you probably aren’t going to hear from, at least not officially, and that’s the U.S. military.

Climate Change, Proposition 23 and the U.S. Military

The branches of the armed services are on a full-throttle move toward sustainable energy, and the Department of Defense has officially declared that climate change is a national security issue. A thriving, growing clean tech sector is absolutely vital to these efforts, and the passage of Proposition 23 would have thrown a huge monkey wrench into it. Stalling the growth of clean tech businesses in California would have been bad enough, but given the size and influence of California’s economy it would have sent a chilling message to business throughout the U.S. For one thing, the financial backing would have dried up: major investors were among those opposed to Proposition 23.

The U.S. Military and The Fossil Fuel Industry

Whether intentionally or not, Proposition 23 was opposed to U.S. national security interests, so I think it’s fair to infer that the U.S. military has been a sort of silent partner in the “No on 23″ effort. That makes the fossil fuel industry’s response to the vote sort of – well, strange. The lobbying group Heartland Institute lead off with the headline “Vested interests Pour Big Money Into Defeating California Prop 23.” Heartland made the whole thing out to be a battle of David vs. Goliath with the Prop 23 supporters playing the part of David — conveniently ignoring the fact that Prop 23 was mainly financed by the oil industry. Well, whatever. That’s all in the past. Now that California is back on track with a strong, statewide renewable energy policy, sunny days are here again.

Image: California smog by Al Pavangkanan on flickr.com.

Keep up to date with all the hottest cleantech news by subscribing to our (free) cleantech newsletter, or keep an eye on sector-specific news by getting our (also free) solar energy newsletter, electric vehicle newsletter, or wind energy newsletter.

Tags: California, Proposition 23

About the Author

Tina Casey Tina Casey specializes in military and corporate sustainability, advanced technology, emerging materials, biofuels, and water and wastewater issues. Tina’s articles are reposted frequently on Reuters, Scientific American, and many other sites. Views expressed are her own. Follow her on Twitter @TinaMCasey and Google+.

MadMaxx

Unfortunate that this clear vision of the future was so lacking in the general results of the mid-term elections. This type of legislation will result in California being a “have” state and the naysayers being states with their hands out. Puts to death the old saw that California is the granola state, full of fruits, flakes and nuts. Now it’s the states with repressive, old-school, dirty energy republicans that have the flakes and nuts.
Darrell Marley

I note the use of the phrase “shot down in flames”. While I am pleased that prop 23 was defeated, I suspect hyperbole, as you don’t provide a vote count to substantiate your language.
- http://www.zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan
  
  well, Darrel, there is quite a lot of news that it was essentially “shot down in flames” — 59% no… pretty strong, especially given the amount of money that went in to try to convince the public it would hurt them